The Atlantic did a fascinating inquiry into the reasons the brand's duck boot style is but a Platonian shadow for shoppers, and there are two main reasons. Firstly, the boot is entirely produced in the good ol' U.S.A., meaning it's a much more complex process than if L.L.Bean outsourced the process to a country like China, where 12.5 billion of the world's shoes are currently manufactured. Secondly, the boots are completely handmade; it takes a whopping 85 minutes from beginning to end to make just one pair.

In short, L.L.Bean's strict manufacturing standards can't keep up with the fashion community's demands, which continue to be insanely high. At the moment, the women's classic duck boot style is back-ordered in pretty much every size on L.L.Bean's site and not expected to ship until January 2016.

For our part, though we wouldn't mind getting our hands on a pair, we'll stick to boots we can buy in real time. Keep scrolling to shop some of our favorite boots on the market right now!